5 Content Formats That Generate the Most Leads

You want leads, not just visitors to your website. Here are the top five types of content you can use to help generate leads. But wait, there’s a catch.

What’s the catch?

You won’t get leads by just placing this content on your website and sharing it in social media. The content must make the consumer do something to generate the lead. For example, if you have a blog post, rather than just ending it, use a call to action to make the reader complete an action, such as fill out a form.

Landing pages with forms are key to gaining new leads. Here are some content pieces you can use to draw in the lead, but be sure to capture information from him or her before letting them slip off into the interweb.

Content Formats

Video: Yea, video is cool and it’s trendy. However, simply showing a video with no call to action is like watching a super bowl commercial and not laughing. You won’t remember it. Here are several ways to use YouTube to generate leads, including tips on how to create a call to action.

Blogs: They are a lot of maintenance, but if you don’t have one that’s up to date, how are you driving readers to your site? Blog content is a great way to create short articles with tips, how to’s, and bullet points to provide solutions to clients burning questions. Remember to write for the reader and not the search engines. Download the “How to Write Like a Blogging Pro” activity sheet to help you get started.

E-Books: A quick way to make an eBook is to take your best blog articles from the year and put them into a PowerPoint or Keynote slide deck using a beautiful theme. Save the file as a PDF, and voila you have an eBook you can put on your website. Share that eBook on social media and in client emails. Be sure to add a landing page with a form for visitors to complete to get the book (that’s the lead generation piece). Here are some tips on creating amazing eBooks, plus 18 templates, from HubSpot.

Case Studies: You have clients and they have problems. Case studies are often about the client, their challenge, and the solution you provided. It’s written in an old-school format, kind of like a term paper. To spruce it up, add graphics to point out statistics, include interview quotes about the issue the client was having. Also, consider including a short video interview to supplement the written piece. Once the piece is published, share it with your client for them to post on their website and share in social media, and you should do that same. Use a landing page with a lead generation form on your site to capture people’s name, email, phone, company, and potential issue. Here is an awesome case study template from our friends at HubSpot.

Webcasts: It’s a well-known stat that only about 35 percent of registrants actually attend a webinar. But the ones who do, are golden. Why? Because they are more likely to convert to a lead than non-attendees or casual visitors to your site. One of the things people like about webcasts is they are short; can be attended from anywhere with a strong phone/Internet connection; and are often recorded for sharing and replay. For a business, the best part is you have a captive audience. What better way is there than to add a call to action at the end (or throughout) to get people engaged? You might offer a discount on an upcoming conference, or a coupon code off a product you’re promoting, or a 15-minute free consultation. Another fun tip is to create Tweet-able moments throughout so they can share their experience on social media. After the webinar, be sure to send a survey, which will capture additional data about the event.

Now that you have five amazing content format to help drive leads, how many will you implement this year?